Network bridge to communication protocols for lighting systems

ABSTRACT

A network bridge for a lighting system is disclosed. For one example, a lighting system includes an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) cable, a light emitting diode (LED) driver, and wireless module coupled to the LED driver by way of the I2C cable. The LED driver is configured to control one or more LED light sources. The wireless module includes an antenna configured to receive a message according to any number of a plurality of wireless communication protocols. The wireless module is configured to process the message into an I2C data frame and to deliver the I2C data frame to the LED driver via the I2C cable, and the LED driver is configured to control a lighting application or one or more LED light sources based on an I2C data frame. The message can be a wireless communication protocol message such as a ZigBee message, Bluetooth message or WiFi message. The wireless module includes bridge circuitry configured to process the Zigbee message, Bluetooth message or WiFi message into an I2C data frame and to deliver the I2C data frame to the LED driver via the I2C cable using a serial data communication protocol.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/US2019/018647, filedon 19 Feb. 2019, entitled NETWORK BRIDGE TO COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS FORLIGHTING SYSTEMS, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/051,861, filed Aug. 1, 2018.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to lighting and lighting systemsand, more particularly, to a network bridge to communication protocolsfor lighting systems.

BACKGROUND

A lighting system can include any number of light emitting diode (LED)devices as an illuminating light source. Such lighting systems caninclude LED drivers to regulate electric power to the LED devices. LEDdrivers can be coupled to a communication bus to communicate with othercircuit components to perform functions for the lighting system. Onetype of lighting system is an emergency LED lighting system thatprovides emergency lighting in the event main power is offline or inemergency situations. Lighting systems can be connected to otherdevices, but existing lighting systems lack network bridges for LEDdrivers to communicate on a network using different types ofcommunication protocols.

SUMMARY

A network bridge for a lighting system to any number of wirelesscommunication protocols is disclosed. For one example, a lighting systemincludes an inter-integrated circuit (I²C) cable, a light emitting diode(LED) driver, and a wireless module coupled to the LED driver by way ofthe I²C cable. The LED driver is configured to control one or more LEDlight sources. The wireless module includes an antenna configured toreceive a message according to any number of a plurality of wirelesscommunication protocols. The wireless module is configured to act as anetwork bridge and process the message into an I²C data frame and todeliver the I²C data frame to the LED driver via the I²C cable using aserial data communication protocol. The LED driver can control the oneor more LED light sources based on an I²C data frame. For one example,the LED driver controls LED light sources for an emergency lightingsystem in case of an emergency or when main power is offline.

For one example, the wireless module can receive the message from a meshlighting network using a ZigBee, Bluetooth or WiFi wirelesscommunication protocol for a lighting application. The wireless moduleincludes bridge circuitry to process wireless protocol messages,including ZigBee messages, Bluetooth messages or WiFi messages, into aserial data format such as an I²C data frame and to deliver the I²C dataframe to the LED driver via the I²C cable using a serial datacommunication protocol. The wireless module can also include one or morelight sensors to measure light surrounding the wireless module. By usingbridge circuitry in the wireless module, the lighting system can bridgeto different wireless communication protocols to a common serial dataprotocol such as, e.g., a serial I²C data communication protocol, whichcan be used by an LED driver for lighting applications and controllinglighting systems including emergency lighting systems.

Other systems, devices, apparatuses, methods and computer-readablemediums are described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The appended drawings illustrate examples and are, therefore, exemplaryembodiments and not considered to be limiting in scope.

FIG. 1A illustrates one example of a lighting system having LED drivercapable of bridging to varying wireless communication protocols using awireless module with an antenna.

FIG. 1B illustrates one example block diagram of the internal componentsof the LED driver and wireless module of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A illustrates one example of a lighting system having LED drivercapable of bridging to varying wireless communication protocols using awireless module with a sensor and an antenna.

FIG. 2B illustrates one example block diagram of the internal componentsof the LED driver and wireless module of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A illustrates one example view of a wireless module having anantenna.

FIG. 3B illustrates one example view of a wireless module having anantenna and a sensor.

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of a system having a plurality oflighting systems connected to lighting mesh network.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of communication messaging from alighting mesh network to a LED driver using I²C serial communicationprotocol.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of an I²C data frame.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example flow diagram of an operation to control alighting system using an I²C data frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A network bridge for a lighting system to any number of wirelesscommunication protocols is disclosed. For one example, a lighting systemincludes a LED driver communicating with a wireless module using aserial data protocol. The wireless module includes a network bridgehaving an antenna to receive messages according to any number of aplurality of wireless communication protocols, e.g., ZigBee messages,Bluetooth messages or WiFi messages. For one example, the network bridgeof the wireless module is coupled to the LED driver using aninter-integrated circuit (I²C) cable providing a serial datacommunication protocol. The network bridge can process messagesaccording to a wireless protocol into a serial data protocol data frame,e.g., an I²C data frame, and delivers the serial protocol data frame tothe LED driver, e.g., via the I²C cable using a serial datacommunication protocol. The LED driver can control a lightingapplication or one or more LED light sources based on an I²C data frame.For one example, the LED driver controls LED light sources for anemergency lighting system in case of an emergency or when main power isoffline.

As set forth herein, various embodiments, examples and aspects will bedescribed with reference to details discussed below, and theaccompanying drawings will illustrate various embodiments and examples.The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of various embodiments and examples.However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details arenot described to facilitate a concise discussion of the embodiments andexamples. Although the following examples and embodiments are directedto a network bridge for a lighting system, the network bridge can beimplemented for any type of system bridging wireless communicationprotocols with a serial data communication protocol.

Exemplary LED Drivers and Wireless Modules

FIG. 1A illustrates one example of a lighting system 100 having LEDdriver 101 capable of bridging to varying wireless communicationprotocols using a wireless module with an antenna 105 (wireless module105). For the example of FIG. 1A, LED driver 101 is coupled to wirelessmodule 105 by way of an inter-integrated cable (I²C) cable 107. For oneexample, the I²C cable 103 provides serial protocol communicationcapabilities on a two-wire interface to couple LED driver 101 withwireless module 105 and allows internal components of LED driver 101 andwireless module 105 to communicate with each other based on the I²Cserial protocol.

For one example, LED driver 101 is configured to regulate power to oneor more LEDs to provide a light illuminating source. LED driver 101 canreceive messages from a network coupled to wireless module 105 whichincludes an antenna to receive messages according to any number ofwireless protocols such as ZigBee, Bluetooth or WiFi. Zigbee is an IEEE802.15.14 based wireless protocol which can meet low power and bandwidthneeds. Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging dataover short distances from fixed mobile devices and building networks.WiFi is a wireless technology based on IEEE 802.11 for wireless localarea networking. For one example, wireless module 105 acts as a networkbridge and configured to process the received messages into a serialdata protocol data format, such as, e.g., an I²C data frame, anddelivers the I²C data frame to LED driver 101 on the I²C cable 107. LEDdriver 101 can control one or more LEDs based on the received I²C dataframe. For one example, lighting system 100 is part of a mesh lightingnetwork and coupled to the mesh lighting network by way of wirelessmodule 105 which can receive messages (e.g., control messages) tocontrol LED driver 101 to change or adjust the lighting of one or moreLEDs.

FIG. 1B illustrates one example block diagram 120 of the internalcomponents of the LED driver 101 and wireless module 105 of FIG. 1A. Forthe example of FIG. 1B, LED driver 101 and wireless module 105 arecoupled by way of I²C cable 117. The I²C cable 117 can include a pair ofbidirectional communication lines to transmit serial data and can alsodeliver power between LED driver 101 and wireless module 105. LED driver101 includes a micro-controller unit (MCU) 103, driver power supply unit(PSU) 102, and a programming connector 104. MCU 103 is connected to I²Ccable 117 which is coupled to bridge micro-controller unit (MCU) 110wireless module 105. MCU 103 of LED driver 101 can communicate withbridge MCU 110 of wireless module 105 according to the I²C serial datacommunication protocol. For one example, driver PSU 102 can include amicro-controller, system on a chip, processor or other integratedcircuits (ICs) to control LED light source 127, e.g., controlling thedimming of LED light source 117. Although one LED light source 127 isshown, driver PSU 102 can control lighting for a plurality of LED lightsources. For example, driver PSU 102 can control a constant current orvoltage to LED light source 127.

For one example, the lighting control by driver PSU 102 can beprogrammable. A user input device can communicate with MCU 103 throughprogramming port and connector 104 and 106 and input current or voltagesettings to driver PSU 102. Based on these programmable settings, driverPSU 102 can control the output current or voltage to LED light source127 based on the programmed settings. For one example, LED driver 101can be programmed to match lighting requirements for LED light source127, which can also change due to external conditions such astemperature. For one example, driver PSU 102 can receive temperatureinformation from temperature sensor 105 and adjust output current orvoltage to LED light source 127 based on changes in temperatureaccordingly. Driver PSU 102 and MCU 103 can include one or more memorydevices (e.g., non-transitory computer-readable media) to storeinstructions, program code or firmware to be executed by a controller orprocessor to implement programming of LED driver 101 or control ofoutput current or voltage to LED light source 127.

For one example, wireless module 105 includes an antenna 107, bridgemicro-controller (MCU) 110, a system-on-chip (SoC) 111, programmingconnector 112, wireless modem 113, battery 114, non-volatile storage115, and on-board LEDs 116. Wireless modem 113 is connected to antenna107 and provides connectivity to a wireless network for wireless module105. For another example, wireless modem 113, battery 114 andnon-volatile storage 115 can be included in SoC 111. For one example,wireless modem 113 is configured to receive and transmit messages usingany number of wireless communication protocols including Zigbee,Bluetooth and WiFi communication protocols. Wireless modem 113 providesconnectivity for wireless module 105 to any number of wireless protocolsand can modulate and demodulate for wireless communication. Messagesreceived by wireless modem 113 can be processed by SoC 111. The receivedmessages can be Zigbee, Bluetooth and WiFi wireless protocol messages.

For one example, SoC 111 for wireless module 105 can include amicro-controller, system on a chip, processor or other integratedcircuits (ICs) and implement or execute instructions, program code orfirmware stored, e.g., in non-volatile storage 115, to process receivedmessages from wireless modem 113 and deliver the messages to bridge MCU110 via universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface109. UART interface 109 can provide an asynchronous serial communicationin which the data format and transmission speeds can be configurable.For one example, SoC 111 delivers received wireless messages to bridgeMCU 110 on UART interface 109 as serial data.

For one example, bridge MCU 110 is configured to act as a network bridgebetween LED driver 101 and wireless communication protocols for wirelessmodule 105. Bridge MCU 110 can include a micro-controller, system on achip, processor, wireless modem, non-volatile storage devices or otherICs and implement instructions, program code or firmware stored, e.g.,in non-volatile storage 115, to process serial data from SoC 111. Forexample, bridge MCU 110 can process the received serial data from SoC111 into a serial protocol data format such as an I²C data frame. BridgeMCU 110 can send the I²C data frame to MCU 103 of LED driver 101 on I²Ccable 117 using a serial data communication protocol. The I²C data framecan include instructions processed by MCU 103 of LED driver 101 tocontrol a lighting application or one or more LED light sources such asLED light source 127. For one example, I²C data frame can provide lightdimming instructions to dim the lighting of LED light source 127.

For one example, battery 114 can provide back-up power or main power forwireless module 105 and, in other examples, battery 114 can provideback-up or main power to LED driver 101. Battery 114 can be any type ofrechargeable battery and can provide power to SoC 111 or othercomponents and ICs for wireless module 105. Programming connector 112can be coupled to a user input device to program wireless module 105 forany type of configuration to wireless module 105 including type ofbattery or modification to modem and wireless communication protocolconfigurations. Any number of on-board LEDs 116, e.g., 2 LEDs, can beused to provide lighting for wireless module 105 or provide statusinformation for wireless module 105. Non-volatile storage 115 can be anytype of non-volatile storage device or memory such as random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), solid state drives, hard diskdrives and other types non-volatile storage media.

FIG. 2A illustrates one example of a lighting system 200 having LEDdriver 201 capable of bridging to varying wireless communicationprotocols using a wireless module with a sensor and an antenna 205(wireless module 205). LED driver 201 can communicate with wirelessmodule 205 using a serial data protocol (e.g., I²C data frames) by wayof I²C cable 203. Lighting system 200 operates in the same way aslighting system 100 of FIG. 1A except that wireless module 205 caninclude a sensor or a plurality of sensors to sense illuminance orinfrared lighting. For one example, wireless module 205 can send thesensed lighting information to LED driver 201 that can adjust lightingfor LED light source 217 based on the sensed information. For example,the sensed information can be packaged in an I²C data frame anddelivered to LED driver 201.

FIG. 2B illustrates one example block diagram of the internal componentsof the LED driver 201 and wireless module 205 of FIG. 2A. Referring toFIG. 2B, the internal components of LED driver 201 such as driver PSU202, MCU 203, programming connector 204, programming port 206 andtemperature sensor 205 operate in the same way as the same components ofLED driver 101 of FIG. 1B. Similarly, the internal components ofwireless module 205 such as bridge MCU 210, SoC 211, UART interface 209,programming connector 212, wireless modem 213, battery 214, non-volatilestorage 215 and on-board LEDs 216 operate in the same way as the samecomponents of wireless module 105 of FIG. 1B. Wireless modem 213,battery 214 and non-volatile storage 215 can also be internal componentsof SoC 211. The wireless module 205, however, includes passive infraredsensor 218 (PIR sensor 218) and illuminance and luminous emittancesensor 219 (LUX sensor 219) that can sense infrared light and luminousflux per unit area (e.g., light intensity), respectively. Sensed lightinformation from PIR sensor 218 and LUX sensor 219 can be passed or sentto bridge MCU 210, which can include that information in an I2C dataframe to MCU 201 of LED driver 201. MCU 201 of LED driver 210 can usethe sensed light information to control a lighting application or one ormore LED light sources 227. For another example, the sensed lightinformation can be delivered to SoC 211 by way of UART 209.

Exemplary Wireless Modules

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrates example view of a wireless module having anantenna 300 (wireless module 300) and a wireless module having anantenna and a sensor 320 (wireless module 320). Referring to FIG. 3A,wireless module 300 can have an embedded wireless antenna and have acircular disk shape to house internal components such as those shown forwireless module 105 of FIG. 1B including bridge circuitry (e.g., bridgeMCU 110) to bridge lighting applications to wireless communicationprotocols. Coupled to wireless module 300 is an I²C cable 303 that canconnect wireless module 300 with an LED driver, e.g., LED driver 101, tocontrol a lighting application or one or more LED light sources such aslight source 127. Wireless module 300 can communicate serial protocoldata frames with an LED driver using I²C as described in FIG. 5. For oneexample, wireless module 305 can be configured to support differentcombinations of Zigbee, Bluetooth or WiFi wireless communicationprotocols.

Referring to FIG. 3B, wireless module 320 can have a different shape andconfiguration than wireless module 300 of FIG. 3A. Wireless module 320can have a circular top shape with embedded sensor 318 with a columnshaped base. Embedded sensors 318 can include, e.g., PIR sensor 218 andLUX sensor 219 as shown in FIG. 2B, to detect light luminance or otherlight information surrounding wireless module 320. Wireless module 320also includes an embedded wireless antenna and can house internalcomponents such as those shown for wireless module 205 of FIG. 2Bincluding bridge circuitry (e.g., bridge MCU 210) to bridge lightingapplications to wireless communication protocols. Wireless module 320can be coupled to an LED driver by way of I²C cable 313 and can send I²Cdata frames (as described in FIG. 5) to an LED driver, e.g., LED driver201, to control a lighting application or one or more LED light sourcessuch as light source 227 in FIG. 2B. Clips 235 can be used to securelylock in place or attach wireless module 320 in various locations withina room, building or other objects. For one example, wireless module 320can be configured to support different combinations of Zigbee, Bluetoothor WiFi wireless communication protocols.

Exemplary Lighting System Network with Network Bridges

FIG. 4 illustrates one example of a system 400 having a plurality oflighting systems connected to lighting mesh network 407. For oneexample, lighting mesh network 407 allows lighting applications to benetworked with a number of lighting systems supporting any number ofwireless communication protocols (e.g., Zigbee, Bluetooth or WiFi).Referring to FIG. 4, as an example, one lighting system includes LEDdriver 401 coupled to wireless module and antenna 405 (wireless module405) by way of I²C cable 403. Another lighting system includes LEDdriver 411 coupled with wireless module with a sensor and antenna 415(wireless module 415) by way of I²C cable 415. Although two lightingsystems are shown in FIG. 4, any number of lighting systems can becoupled to lighting mesh network 407.

For one example, lighting mesh network 407 is configured for a Bluetoothwireless communication protocol and messages which can be received bywireless modules 405 and 415. Wireless modules 405 and 415 includenetwork bridges, e.g., bridge MCUs 110 and 210 as described above inFIGS. 1B and 2B, that processes wireless messages which can containlighting application instructions or control instructions for one ormore LED light sources into a serial protocol data frame such as an I²Cdata frame. Wireless modules 405 and 415 sends the I²C data frame by wayof I²C cables 403 and 413 to respective LED drivers 401 and 411 tocontrol a lighting application or LED light sources.

Exemplary Network Bridge Messaging and Operations

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of communication messaging from alighting mesh network 508 to a LED driver 502 using the I²C serialcommunication protocol. This exemplary messaging can be implemented bythe lighting systems 110, 120, 200 and 220 of FIGS. 1A-2B and lightingnetwork 400 of FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 5, mesh network 508 can send aninstruction message to LED driver 502. For example, mesh network 508 cansend a brightness level set message 510 to Bluetooth low energy module506 (BLE module 506) according to the BLE wireless communicationprotocol. In other examples, module 507 and mesh network 508 can beconfigured to communicate other types of wireless communication protocolmessages such as Zigbee or WiFi messages. For one example, a wirelessmodem and antenna for BLE module 506 can receive the brightness levelset message 510 from mesh network 508 according to the BLE protocol.Within BLE module 506, the brightness level set message 510 is processedinto serial data as a mesh message request 511 and delivered to bridgeMCU 504.

For one example, after receiving mesh message 511, bridge MCU 504 sendsan interrupt, e.g., I²C interrupt 512, to LED driver 502 that it has amesh message request which contains a brightness level set instructionmessage 510 from mesh network 508. Bridge MCU 504 can send the I²Cinterrupt using I²C cable. After receiving the I²C interrupt 512, LEDdriver sends an I²C request 513 to bridge MCU 504 that it is ready toreceive the mesh message request 511. For one example, bridge MCUpackages the mesh message request 511 into an I²C data frame and sends aI²C response data frame 514 to LED driver 502 on a I²C cable. The I²Cdata frame 514 contain a dimming operation instruction 515. LED driver502 can process the dimming operation 515 to dim lighting for one ormore LED light sources.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of an I²C data frame 600. I²C data frame600 includes a CMD section 610, lightness level section 603, reservedsection 604, and CRC8 section 605. CMD section 601 includes 1 byte thatcan contain a type of command for I²C data frame 600, e.g., dimmingcommand. The lightness level 603 can include a high byte and low byte toprovide the lightness level to be used for a lighting command such as adimming command. The reserved section 604 can include 4 bytes and cancontain any type of information or data such as address information ofdevice information or other device and networking data. The CRC8 section605 contain at type of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error detectioncode which can be used if the data frame has been correctingtransmitted.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example flow diagram of an operation 700 tocontrol a lighting system using an I²C data frame. Operation 700includes operations 701 through 707. At operation 701, a mesh networkmessage is received using a wireless protocol by a wireless module of alighting system. Examples of wireless protocols include Zigbee,Bluetooth and WiFi types of wireless protocols. At operation 703, thewireless module processes the mesh network message into a serialprotocol data frame, e.g., an I²C data frame. At operation 705, thewireless module sends the I²C data frame to a LED driver on an I²Ccable. At operation 707, the LED driver can control LED lighting, e.g.,a lighting application or one or more LED light sources based on the I²Cdata frame. For one example, the I²C data frame includes a dimmingoperation and, after receiving the I²C data frame, the LED driver candim one or more LED light sources based on the instruction in the I²Cdata frame. Operation 700 can be implemented by any of the lightingsystems as described in FIGS. 1A-5.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments and examples thereof. Itwill, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may bemade thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope ofdisclosed examples and embodiments. The specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lighting system comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to: receive a sensed light information; receive a first request message from a mesh lighting network according to a wireless communication protocol; package the first request message that is a wireless communication protocol frame into a serial communication protocol data frame comprising the sensed light information; and send the sensed light information in the serial communication protocol data frame to a light emitting diode (LED) driver to adjust lighting of one or more light sources based in part on the sensed light information.
 2. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the serial communication protocol data frame further comprises a lighting command and a lightness level to be used for the lighting command.
 3. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the first request message is a brightness level set message.
 4. The lighting system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to: send an interrupt to the LED driver in response to the first request message, the interrupt indicating that the first request message has been received from the mesh lighting network; receive a second request message from the light emitting diode (LED) driver that it is ready to receive the first request message.
 5. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the system further includes one or more light sensors coupled to the processor.
 6. A method for a lighting system comprising: receiving a sensed light information; receiving a first request message from a mesh lighting network according to a wireless communication protocol; packaging the first request message that is a wireless communication protocol frame into a serial communication protocol data frame comprising the sensed light information; and sending the sensed light information in the serial communication protocol data frame to a light emitting diode (LED) driver to adjust lighting of the one or more light sources based in part on the sensed light information.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data frame further comprises a lighting command and a lightness level to be used for the lighting command.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the first request message is a brightness level set message.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: sending an interrupt to the LED driver in response to the first request message, the interrupt indicating that the first request message has been received from the mesh lighting network; receiving a second request message from the light emitting diode (LED) driver that it is ready to receive the first request message.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving a sensed light information; receiving a first request message from a mesh lighting network according to a wireless communication protocol; packaging the first request message that is a wireless communication protocol frame into a serial communication protocol data frame comprising the sensed light information; and sending the sensed light information in the serial communication protocol data frame to a light emitting diode (LED) driver to adjust lighting of the one or more light sources based in part on the sensed light information.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the data frame further comprises a lighting command and a lightness level to be used for the lighting command.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the first request message is a brightness level set message.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions to cause the one or more processor to perform operations comprising: sending an interrupt to the LED driver in response to the first request message, the interrupt indicating that the first request message has been received from the mesh lighting network; receiving a second request message from the light emitting diode (LED) driver that it is ready to receive the first request message. 